Condemning the genocide and violence in northern
uganda and urging congress with the support of the president to engage the international
community to take action to protect the children of uganda.

WHEREAS, Hawaii is committed to supporting the
dignity and worth of each human being; and

WHEREAS, for more than twenty years, the
Government of Uganda has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Lord's
Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, resulting in ten thousand people murdered,
at least twice that number of children abducted, and over 1,600,000 people
displaced; and

WHEREAS, the government forces, or the Uganda
People's Defense Forces, have also committed abuses against civilians such as
rape and murder, especially with the internally displaced persons camps under
their protection; and

WHEREAS, the former United Nations
Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator called the civil war in northern Uganda "the biggest
forgotten, neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today"; and

WHEREAS, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
has labeled the Lord's Resistance Army "vicious and cult-like" and
designates it as a terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality
Act; and

WHEREAS, on April 26, 2006, the State Department's
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
testified before Congress that those who suffer most from the Lord's Resistance
Army tactics are the children, who face enslavement, sexual exploitation, and
forced soldiering; and

WHEREAS, many of the children serving in armed
forces or paramilitaries were forcibly conscripted through kidnapping or
coercion, a form of human trafficking, while others joined due to economic
necessity, to avenge the loss of a family member, or for their own personal
safety; and

WHEREAS, some military and militia commanders
force child soldiers to commit gruesome acts of ritual killings or torture,
including acts of violence against other children; and

WHEREAS, child soldiers are exposed to hazardous
conditions and are at risk of physical injury and disability, psychological
trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, and often death; and

WHEREAS, due to the threat of abduction, at one
time as many as thirty-five thousand child "night commuters" traveled
nightly from conflict areas or camps to spend the night in shelters, schools,
churches or balconies in urban centers with greater capacity to protect them;
and

WHEREAS, the continuing violence and instability
obstruct the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of northern Uganda and impede national and regional trade, development and democratization efforts, and
counter-terrorism efforts; and

WHEREAS, although the Government of Uganda and the
Lord's Resistance Army signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in August
2006, it was never fully implemented, and they have not yet arrived at a
sustainable negotiated settlement and observers remain concerned that
hostilities between rebel and government forces could resume; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii and its citizens cannot be
bystanders, as genocide and human trafficking are moral and ethical issues that
implicate us all; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of
the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the
Senate concurring, that the Legislature disapproves of the Lord's Resistance Army
leadership's inconsistent commitment to resolving the conflict in northern
Uganda peacefully; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii congressional
delegation is urged to support legislation allocating sufficient funds for
continued humanitarian aid the people of Uganda as well as legislation urging
the Lord's Resistance Army to engage in good faith negotiations to pursue a
political solution to this conflict; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that leaders on both sides
of the conflict in Uganda are urged to renounce any intentions and halt any
preparations to resume violence and to ensure that this message is clearly
conveyed to armed elements under their control; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States Secretary
of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development, and the heads of other similar government agencies and
nongovernmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations within the
international community are urged to continue augmenting efforts to alleviate
the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda and to support a peaceful resolution
to this crisis by publicly and forcefully reiterating the proceeding demands;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of
this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's congressional delegation,
the President of the United States, and the United States Ambassador to the
United Nations.